AI’s real-world impact, data center energy, cybersecurity threats, RAM pricing crisis...

MIT Technology Review and the Financial Times engage in a nuanced debate about the true impact of generative AI on economic productivity. Despite high-profile claims—such as Mark Zuckerberg’s prediction that half of Meta’s code will soon be AI-written—a widely cited MIT study found that 95% of generative AI projects yield zero business return. Some economists, like Erik Brynjolfsson, suggest a “J curve” where AI’s productivity gains will take years to materialize, while others, including Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu, argue the gains will be modest and slow due to AI’s current focus on narrow tasks. Early signs of productivity growth are emerging, but experts caution that the real economic benefits of AI will require fundamental changes to business processes and infrastructure, and may not be fully realized until AI is used to augment, rather than just replace, human workers. MIT Technology Review

OpenAI is investing in Thrive Holdings, a roll-up vehicle created by backer Thrive Capital, aiming to build and acquire companies poised to benefit from AI, particularly in services like accounting. TechCrunch points out that analysts are closely watching whether Thrive-owned firms will deliver sustainable profits from OpenAI’s technology, or if these moves reflect inflated valuations amid speculative market enthusiasm—a trend raising concerns about circular investments in the AI sector. The Information TechCrunch

The Information reports that Amazon Web Services (AWS) is struggling to keep pace with top-tier competitors such as OpenAI and Google in developing cutting-edge AI models. AWS has relied on partnerships with companies like Anthropic, but its flagship Bedrock AI service has faced repeated technical setbacks. Meanwhile, Anthropic is building closer relationships with AWS’s cloud rivals, Google and Microsoft, further complicating Amazon’s ambitions in the AI space. The Information

TechCrunch highlights Nvidia’s $2 billion investment in chip-design specialist Synopsys, deepening their collaboration at a time when the AI industry is under scrutiny for potentially circular deal-making. Analysts warn of a possible bubble, as major players like Nvidia seek to lock in their dominance over the semiconductor stack that underpins AI hardware innovation. TechCrunch

According to The Register, global banking giant HSBC has announced a partnership with Mistral AI to accelerate adoption of generative AI across its operations. The move follows similar investments by competitors and is part of a broader wave of financial industry spending—Bank of America, for instance, has earmarked $4 billion for new technology, reflecting the sector’s race to leverage AI for process optimization and efficiency. The Register

The Verge reports that Runway’s new Gen-4.5 text-to-video model achieves “unprecedented” visual accuracy and realism, generating photorealistic scenes that are increasingly hard to distinguish from real footage. Meanwhile, OpenAI is also enhancing its Sora model, focusing on realistic physics and motion. Despite impressive advances, limitations remain, such as occasional failures in object permanence or causality, underscoring ongoing challenges in AI-generated media. The Verge

A seven-year campaign using malicious browser extensions has infected over 4.3 million users of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge with spyware and backdoors, reports The Register. Many of these extensions remain available in the Edge store, and experts warn that the campaign’s persistence highlights the need for better vetting and user awareness about browser add-ons as potential vectors for data theft and surveillance. The Register

Tech Radar warns that cybercriminals are increasingly exploiting calendar invitations as a phishing tool, mirroring tactics traditionally used in email. Security researchers urge users to treat unsolicited calendar notifications with the same caution as suspicious emails, as these invites can contain malicious links or payloads. Tech Radar

TechSpot reports that Google’s latest modernization of SMS and MMS for Android, known as Rich Communication Services (RCS), offers end-to-end encryption for work texts. However, the new enterprise update reveals that encrypted work messages may not be as private as they appear, raising questions about employer access, data retention, and the boundaries of workplace surveillance. TechSpot

According to TechCrunch, global data center energy demand is forecasted to soar nearly 300% by 2035, with new planned facilities expected to consume even more power than previously estimated. Grid operators are already blaming this explosive growth for rising electricity prices, highlighting the environmental and infrastructure challenges posed by AI-driven digital expansion. TechCrunch

TechSpot and Tom’s Hardware reveal that soaring demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) in AI data centers has doubled DRAM prices, causing a sharp fall in motherboard sales and sparking calls for gamers to boycott RAM. TeamGroup’s GM warns that the crisis will worsen in 2026, with DRAM and NAND prices potentially doubling again as production shifts to serve AI needs, and new manufacturing capacity lagging years behind. TechSpot Tom's Hardware

Live Science reports that new observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS have revealed eruptions of “ice volcanoes” or cryovolcanoes, providing insight into its composition. Preliminary findings suggest that, despite originating from another solar system, the comet shares unexpected similarities with icy bodies in our own solar neighborhood, offering clues about planetary formation and the universality of certain cosmic processes. Live Science